LLARMS Dreadnaught (Fan-Cooled Rifle) Chassis 3D Model

Good news! There’s an update from LLARMS about their Dreadnaught rifle. At the risk of turning this into the Dacia Sandero of TTAG, I figured this video was worth a post since it gives a little more information about how the fans and such are going to work in their BFG-esque POWERED air-cooled monstrosity of a rifle. I’m genuinely curious about how this is going to turn out, since it definitely is a bit different. Oh yeah, and they’ve settled on “Dreadnaught” for a name. Certainly fitting, given the size of the thing….

Really? Fans for air cooling, when vented handguards for the same purpose have been used on our service rifle for over half a century? That’s what you call “KISS”? Come on. A unique design? Clearly. But let’s stick to being honest, and not try to pass it off as anything resembling a simple design.

At 30lbs. without a scope, light, laser, or other tacti-cool stuff people like to hang on their rifles these days I cannot fathom where, when, how, you would need to put so many rounds through your .308 that you would need or even use fans to cool down the barrel.

Can you offer some insight Damien on the who, what, when, where, factors that this “unique” very expensive system that would make worth purchasing?

Aside from the disgustingly rich, I don’t see too many sales in your future from the common man.

Let me start by saying you should avoid using assumptions or opinions as fact. It causes unwarranted confusion.

1. You said, “expensive” – I challenge you to share with everyone the pricing structure you seem to indicate you have on hand.

2. Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If you find something expensive, that is irrelevant to the rest of the world around you.

3. The barrel cooling applications are not meant for combating long winded mag dumps. Its speeds up down time when shooting for accuracy. Generally 3-5 shot groups require the barrel to cool back down to ambient temps or the shots will begin to open up. The system can take 15+ minute natural cooling of the ambient atmosphere and reduce it to minutes. This is all outlined on the FAQs on the website if you are inclined to take a closer look.

Let me know if you have any more questions I will be happy to answer what I can as long as it doesn’t turn into a sandbagging competition. 🙂

The spam filter here is a capricious and nasty thing. It will kick you for more than two links in a post, if you happen to be doing that. It can also kick you for “bad” words, even if they’re contained in other words. Examples off the top of my head are “ana-lyze” and “co-cked.” A gun site where you can’t say the word “co-cked” is a neat thing. Profanity breezes right through, though, so feel free to cuss to your heart’s content.

Sometimes, however, it’ll flag stuff that I can’t figure out, even on thorough review. Have to wait on someone to clear the spam filter and approve it. Sending an email to [email protected] is sometimes effective, depending on how soon someone gets the email.

Unique is not always good, especially when it costs over $1000. Take for example a KAC Super Tap compensator which also acts as the first baffle for a suppressor is good, a 30 lbs hand guard is bad. The KAC Super Tap justifies its cost because its made from Iconnel, is innovative, is exclusive, and is manufactured by a respected arms company. You can’t justify a $1,000+ price tag on a sheet metal hand guard.

I don’t know about you guys but this looks like it would only be used as shown in a fixed-place environment because by the size of it, extra metal, fans, and wires, must add up to a considerable weight.

Not to mention the fact that once those tiny little fans with their tiny little moving parts get clogged up with air-born dirt & debris you will end up with a whole bunch of useless junk hanging onto your rifle.

Michael “Savage” would say that is overkill, there is no need for it therefore it should be banned, he is tired of this cracker stuff, and conservatives like him need to ban stuff like that before liberals do.

I knew I had seen this behemoth before! The owner of LLARMS tried to promote the rifle on a disaster preparedness forum, and got laughed at because, at roughly 30 lbs, it’s too heavy to be practical. Seems like a bench rest rifle in a tactical get-up.

Actually I asked the community there for some input (like I was on all forums we are on) on what to call the product. A handful of members from that community decided to over blow the inquiry and basically turn it into a mud slinging fest.

I had actually spoken with a staff member to make sure all was cool and was given the thumbs up. Later on a different staff member told me the exact opposite after a bunch of trolls started piling in.

I can’t speak for the first guy, but I was simply seconding the
observation that the thread in question went badly (I think you’ll agree that it was a complete train-wreck).
Hell, neither of us even mentioned the name of said forum.

Pretty much what Mike said. I recognized the rifle from a forum I frequently lurk on, and the thread in question was a bit of a train wreck because of a variety of causes. Several people did laugh at the rifle. While I would never buy this, if it sells, power to you.

Really? How do the intended applications differ? And in regards to apples and oranges, he acknowledged it when he said “…accomplishes the same purpose at lower cost with no moving parts, no wires, and nothing to wear out or break down.

Lots of detail in the video, but one thing escaped me: What’s it for? And Damien, before you jump in to answer, yes, I realize that it’s for cooling. I could also drill two holes in an ice chest and run the barrel through.

That is the answer on its simplest terms. The project started out as an idea to take numerous other things that have already been done (some of them were quite crude, like cement in a butt stock) and mold them together where it (hopefully) comes off as if they belong together. Its also an act of art in some aspects.

We decided that the firearms component industry likes to use the tag line “new”, but quite honestly – a majority of the time its the same recycled parts. How many different shapes can be cut into a hand guard? How many shapes and compartments can be added to a butt stock? You get the idea. So we said, lets make something like nothing that has been seen. I think we’ve accomplished that pretty well.

Then the inquires started coming in (probably beginning of 2012) about buying one. Been rolling with the punches ever since.

Dreadnaught is simply a variation of Dreadnought (the old big battleships). Both terms have become widely accepted by society. Wiki has quite a bit of information on both variations. In our case, one version seems to read easier on the eyes than the other.

The project started out as an idea to take numerous other things that have already been done (some of them were quite crude, like cement in a butt stock) and mold them together where it (hopefully) comes off as if they belong together.
Some things just don’t belong together.

So we said, lets make something like nothing that has been seen. I think we’ve accomplished that pretty well.
You did, and there is a good reason why this hasnt been seen before.

So the short answer is that you came up with it, and now you’re hoping we’ll buy it.

What I see is something that will cost a lot of money and will only be functional, much less useful, in bench shooting. It reminds me of an essay by Jeff Cooper, titled “The Ultimate Iron Pistol”–batteries, wires, a multi-volume manual, and lots of fiddly parts.

10 pounds of lead on a lever mount would be more practical than this monstrosity. First off, it would be less than 1/10th the cost, it would take up less space, and most importantly it could be removed so you aren’t laughed off the firing line.

lol at your fan idea. Does anyone care to guess whats going to happen to those fans when they get gummed up with fouling? Or when they get wet. Since LLArms had to beg on a kick starter like project, that only managed to raise like $250, I really doubt he is using IP68 rated fans.

And from the video it looks like the batteries are stored in the handguard, which essentially acts as a oven. I’m assuming the designer of this isnt aware of thermal runaway, or the bad things that can happen when Ni-Cd or Li-ion cells over heat. I cant wait until someone does several mag dumps, and then asks why their battery cells exploded. The fans in the middle dont appear to have enough ventilation to really do much good.

I lol at you once again Damien.

And so I can lol at you some more, how about you post the makes and models of the fans, batteries and charging circuits you plan on using.

matt we both know you are a troll and all of your statements are just a bunch of inaccurate fluff or just randomly created notions to create trouble. We’ve had this discussion before, you really should find something more productive to do with your time.

TSgt it would be a little more complicated than having static fluid sitting there. You would need a method to circulate the heated liquid and strip the heat out of it. Then the problem of evaporation and having to refill it.

There isn’t really such a thing as a small water jacket. Water jackets are better suited to full auto applications, not single shot accuracy.

Early Maxim machine guns were sold with water pumps and radiators to cool their barrels, Hotchkiss used finned barrels and I am sure there were several other cooling methods used on guns well over a hundred years ago.
It will be interesting to see how this latest idea works – I am personally skeptical about the weight and the complexity that would be added, though. If the system demonstrates a significant improvement, I am sure that buyers would vote with their dollars, though. Will be interesting to watch . . .

To LLARMS:
I applaud your delving into the unusual and have no ill will toward anyone that would want one. You will deal with a lot of gun snobs. Although gun snobs are not as bad as knife snobs, they can be taxing. I like innovation of ideas as it brings forward new ideas to follow. I remember the first Glock was a cheap plastic pistol that no one wanted because it was not steel and now it is winning competitions.
That being said, this rifle is not for me. It is too far on the heavy side and I am not a fan of electronics on my firearms. I am more into rifles I would take into battle and “no” I am not an AR fan from personal experience.
I could not find any pricing information, any ballistics information or reliability testing data on your new rifle. Is this still being put together?

And you are absolutely within your right to not buy something you don’t want, nor would we think any less of you for making that decision. Sadly as you can see some people cannot simply -stop- at this perfectly civil point and feel the need to bully their opinions onto others and worse yet, lie and post completely inaccurate information.

More detailed specifications, footage, data and pricing information are schedule for either August or September. We are focused in getting the Generation III Dreadnaught completed and packed up for shipping off to people like Mr. Nick Leghorn here. Once all that is done and the weapon is sent off we have a lot more free time to sit down and put the requested and sought after information into words on the screen for you guys.